Chapter Nineteen
Charlie
Joe’s truth hit me hard. I was crying about rules when my life was on the line. Franco and his killers wouldn’t play by the rules, yet I wanted us to. Hypocrite much, Pine? My head had been in a bad place since we’d gone to that sketchy bar. I’d spent the ride home imagining Joe in backroom deals with the Bandits. Thinking the worst, while he risked everything for me.
A tear ran down my cheek then another. I needed to get my shit together and focus on survival. When had I locked myself in a prison of others’ expectations? Breaking out was harder than I’d imagined, but I could do it, with Joe’s help.
“Darling, don’t cry.” Joe cradled me against his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m an ass.”
“No, no, it’s not you.” I wiped my nose on my arm and stepped back to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry to lay my stupidity on you. I’m glad we’re prepared. We need it all, and I’m worried it still won’t be enough to stop them.” I bit my lip and spilled my deepest fear. “I’m afraid no matter what we do, some day, somewhere, Franco will be waiting. Even if this plan works.”
His thumb wiped away a stray tear. “Nope. We’ll come to terms, I promise you that. This isn’t resolved until we find a lasting peace.”
Confidence radiated from him. His strength never ended, but he wasn’t the domineering kind of guy I loathed. Confidence and strength often made a bully or at the least a bossy guy, but Joe wasn’t any of those.
“How do you do it?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Do what?”
“You’re so damn strong.”
“You’re worth fighting for.” His cocky grin flashed, making his face light up.
“So are you.” I sucked in a breath. “Let’s go look at the toys we inherited.”
Joe loped across the room and grabbed an Army duffel, then headed for the kitchen where a canvas bag lay on my table.
“Which do you want to explore?” He gave me the choice.
“That one.” I grabbed the canvas bag, pulling out the treasures. Two tear gas canisters, three flashbangs and two freaking real grenades. Holy shit, real grenades.
Joe had the MP5 in pieces, inspecting it. “Cool, I hoped for a couple of grenades.”
“In what scenario would we need a grenade?” I couldn’t imagine one.
“The kind where we’re trapped.” He reassembled the gun. “It’s in great shape.” He laid the gun on the table. “See this pin?” He held the pin on the grenade.
“Careful. I don’t want to go splat.” I backed away from him.
He laughed. “Grenade pins take force to remove, it’s not happening by mistake. You pull the pin, you throw it and get to cover. Simple, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I grinned back at the fool.
His phone rang. He glanced down. “Gotta take this.” He walked a few feet away, but didn’t leave me. “This is JoJo.”
Again with that name. It didn’t seem like a biker name.
“I’m out of the area.” He flicked a button on his screen. “I’m connecting you to one of our bond agents. He’ll help you out.” He hung up. “One of my regulars, up in your jail, but there’s no way I’m working until we’re on the other side of this cluster.”
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
He chuckled. “Anything, darling.”
“Why JoJo? It’s not a nickname I’d expect.”
His smile fell away and sadness clouded his dark eyes.
“No, it’s not a biker nickname. I had the name before I joined the club, hell since I was ten and Laney was three. She liked repeating herself and used to repeat all of our names. I was JoJo, but even when she’d outgrown the double name thing, she called me JoJo.”
He stared off, seeing something I couldn’t see. I rubbed his arm, knowing memories of his sister hurt him. I wanted to comfort him, tell him not to bother, but the wound had been reopened, and stopping now wouldn’t stop his pain.
“When I was in Basic, we used to Skype and the guys heard her call me JoJo. And that was it—that was my name. Followed me everywhere. After...after she died, I didn’t want the name to die too, so I made it my nickname in the club. I guess it’s one of the few ways I can carry her with me. Lord knows I let her down, let her get killed, but the name, it brings back the good memories.”
Guilt and grief were best friends, and nothing I said would suddenly convince Joe that he wasn’t responsible. But I had to try.
“You know, it wasn’t your fault, even though you feel the guilt.” I stroked his cheek.
He started to reply but I quieted him with a kiss. I needed his touch. He clasped me tight and maybe he needed me as much as I needed him. His hands lifted my shirt but I stepped away.
“Upstairs.” I pulled him up the stairs behind me. “I need you, JoJo.”
He didn’t argue and let me undress him and push him back on the bed. I’d let Joe lead our lovemaking, but tonight I was in charge. Time for me to lighten his load.
I scraped fingernails down his chest, kneeling between his legs. I stroked his thick erection before licking the tip.
“Fuck, darling, put your mouth on my cock. Suck me hard.” He watched me with a hooded gaze.
I did as instructed, feeling a new kind of power grow in me with every sound of pleasure he made. This didn’t feel wrong or bad, but perfect. I glanced up at the ripples of pleasure tightening his features.
“Going to come if you keep fucking me with that pretty little mouth.” His Southern drawl twanged stronger. That was damn sexy.
I cupped his balls and massaged, trying to remember every X-rated gossip tip I’d ever heard. Joe deserved to have his mind blown, even if I had little experience in this area. Jensen and I...
I shut the door to those thoughts. No comparisons, ever.
He made sexy noises as I sucked him into my mouth, taking him as deep as I could before sliding back to his tip. He tangled hands in my hair and pushed me deep again. I struggled to take all of him, then had to move back to breathe. He thrust into me, then stilled his hips only to move again a second later. His control was crumbling, finally.
He gasped and moved away. “Darling, you gotta fuck me. Ride me now.” He tugged me up just when I’d tested his control.
“Condom?” I panted. This was about what he needed. I’d rock his world one way or the other.
He handed me one. I ripped apart the wrapping and rolled it on.
“So fucking sexy. Make those titties bounce, you do that for me?”
His words shouldn’t turn me on, but they did. I loved the way he talked to me. My core heated in anticipation, my breasts tingled and I ached deep inside. Only Joe could cure what bothered me.
I lowered myself over his dick with a deliberate slowness that almost drove me insane. I wanted to clamp him tight and ride hard, but this was for him. I’d get there soon enough.
“Fucking killing me with that sweet pussy.” His fingers dug into my hips.
I swirled said hips as I moved up and down his shaft, holding eye contact as we made love. This was making love—the intimacy and connection was different, deeper than it’d been before.
He thrust up into me, trying to hurry the pace, but I was going to drive him crazy with a deliberateness he’d curse. I remembered the way he’d made me feel that first time when he’d taken so long to make me come.
“Fuck, so close. You’re making me come, girl.” His glazed eyes swept over me.
I slowed my movements again, circling, teasing. His eyes fluttered closed as he jacked up into me, filling me completely. I ached to find my own release.
“I love your dick inside me, filling me up,” I crooned down to him.
He met my gaze, eyes full of need and emotion Then his hand went to my clit but I swatted it away.
“Uh-huh, I’m in control.”
“Fuck, darling.” He smacked up into me faster. “Can’t hold on.” He clenched his teeth as if he wanted this to last too.
“Tell me what you need, JoJo.” I stilled.
“Fuck me hard, drive me crazy now,” he begged me.
And I couldn’t resist a begging man. I drove down hard, bouncing up and down until I spiraled out of control and ecstasy pumped through me.
“Yeah, Charlie, that’s it,” he growled low, coming with me.
I collapsed on his chest, sweaty and satisfied. Pride mixed with the bliss still making me limp. I’d rocked his world. I wasn’t cold, it hadn’t been me. I drifted on the edge of sleep until he moved under me, waking up my insides in the most glorious way.
I let him slide out of me and nestled into the crook of his shoulder. “That was awesome, totally got rid of all the crap bothering me. I think it’s better than riding a bike.”
He rolled over until he could stare down at me. “You think?” He shook his head. “No thinking about it. The way you fucked me tops everything.”
“Yeah?” I needed to hear that.
“Oh fuck yeah, now take it back.”
I furrowed my brow. “Take what back?”
He scowled at me.
“Fucking you is definitely better than riding on your bike.” I squealed when he pinched my nipple.
“Tease.” He gave me a carefree smile and collapsed back on the bed. “I like that sass of yours.”
“Really?” I turned on my side to see his face. “I like this.” I let my fingers trail over his dick.
“I’m glad.” He pulled me down for a kiss.
Honestly, I liked everything about us together. With JoJo, I was a different person. A better person. What would I be when he left? The thought dropped the bottom out of my stomach. I wished this was more than a casual affair.
“Darling, what put the sad in your eyes?” He traced down my cheek.
“Is this just casual sex? Convenient? Easy?” I rushed out the words before I lost my courage.
All humor drained from his expression. “Fuck no. There isn’t a damn easy thing about you and me.” He cupped my cheek. “I want to let this play out, see where we end up, if you’d give us that chance.”
The words fell in place, completing something inside me. No matter how many times I warned myself away, I felt the same way, and I was done resisting. I’d regret it later, no doubt.
“Me too.” The words came easier than I thought they would.
Joe rewarded me with a bright smile. “I know the perfect way to seal the deal.” He bent to kiss me.
“Wait.” A thought had come to me. “Should we get ready?” I sat up and pulled the sheet around me. “Brie and Tom were surprised... I don’t want to be caught unprepared.”
The playfulness evaporated. “Yeah, I’d meant to do that then we got distracted.” He waggled his brows. “My bag is packed. I’ll grab the hardware. You pack your go-bag.” He leered at me. “Then I’m fucking you unconscious.”
He hopped out of bed bare-ass naked and headed downstairs. The man had no modesty. After he left, I hurried and packed my own bag, throwing in a change of clothes, my guns and my purse. I couldn’t think of anything else essential. Hopefully I wouldn’t need this, but better to be prepared.
A few minutes later Joe loped back into the room with both bags of hardware along with his own duffel. We stacked them together along one wall. “Now where we...” He scooped me up and dumped me on the bed. Then he worked at keeping his promise.
* * *
JoJo rocked into me faster and faster. I held on tight, loving the way he made me feel.
“Darling, hey.” His voice was insistent, not the low sexy rumble I was used to.
“Charlie, wake up. I smell smoke.”
His words brought me out of my dream and into reality. Smoke turned the air bitter. Joe stood beside the bed dressed. He held the gun in one hand with bags over his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” I stood and put on the clothes Joe handed me.
“Fire from below, I haven’t checked. Dress, and take the go-bags.”
I threw on clothes, then grabbed the gun from my bag before throwing both bags over my shoulders. He moved out of the room as I fought away the panic, trying to find the same calm Joe exuded. In the hall, the heat already scorched the painted walls.
JoJo raced back up the stairs. “Fire ladder? All the doors are blocked.”
I shook my head, I’d never considered one.
“We’ll do it the hard way.” He hurried past me into the bedroom coming out seconds later with two wet towels. “Wrap it around you head, nose and mouth.”
I complied, unable to think, to react. My house on fire. Exits blocked. We were going to die here. Panic tried to take hold but slipped away like all the other emotions. This had to be a dream. I’d wake up any minute.
Flames licked the front wall of my house. We moved downstairs, then he pulled me through thick smoke to the kitchen. “Get down,” he shouted, tipping over my table. “Stay here.”
He dug in his bag, pulled out something and rolled it across the floor. He’d barely ducked behind the table when a huge boom made my ears ring. Was that a grenade?
We stood up, and the wall was missing where the grenade had gone off. Flame licked around the sides, but we ducked through to the garage. I headed for my SUV, but he had other ideas. He pointed to his bike. “Better for getting away.” He cocked his head to the side. “Fire engines on the way. They’ll have to clear out.”
He shoved the helmet on my head. “Put this on.” He shoved a Kevlar vest my way. I fumbled with it but had it on in seconds. He sat on the bike, waiting for me. Once the vest and helmet were secured, he thrust the semi-automatic at me. “Shoot everything that moves, clear the path for us.”
I nodded and the fog cleared. His life depended on me. I moved the MP5 control from continuous fire to bursts. Tucked a spare clip in my waistband. “Let’s go.”
“Here’s hoping.” He pressed the wall button and the garage door grated open. Before us five guys were spread across my drive and front lawn, waiting for us. We were heading right into their net. But they hadn’t met JoJo. We’d escape.
He gunned the engine before he raced out of the garage, I let loose with the MP5, spraying the guys to my right. They ducked down. The two on our left got off shots before I could switch the angle and shoot back.
We sped by in a flurry of bullets. I spied the fire truck a block away as we roared down the street. I sprayed bullets at our attackers and said a quick prayer that I’d have something to come home to.
We raced out of my subdivision and straight onto the interstate, heading south. I tapped on his shoulder to stop, but he didn’t. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing.
As the miles passed, I took inventory, patting my legs and each arm, the best I could while clutching him one-handed. No holes, no pain. I’d survived in one piece, for now. But how long before they’d catch up to us?